McNichol: Woods, McIlroy making the best of tough course

Rory McIlroy, left, of Northern Ireland, and Tiger Woods shake hands after putting on the 18th hole during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Merion Golf Club, Friday, June 14, 2013, in Ardmore, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

HAVERFORD — They are No. 1 and No. 2 in the world and after a long day, they were both 3-over par, which misses the cut at your run-of-the-mill PGA Tour stop, but has you right in the hunt at the U.S. Open.

There were times Friday, during which No. 1 Tiger Woods and No. 2 Rory McIlroy played the last seven holes of their first round and then turned right around and played their second round. The wheels got a little wobbly for both players.

With the breeze freshening and the USGA going into the dungeon to dig up the most difficult pin placements imaginable at Merion Golf Club’s venerable East Course, many of the world’s best players could not hold it together Friday.

Just ahead of the 1-2-3 group of Woods, McIlroy and Adam Scott, a couple of former U.S. Open champions Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell (yes, the guy I picked to win the tournament) were throwing 77 and 79 on the board, respectively, to miss the cut. Their playing partner, former Masters champion Zach Johnson, had a 77.

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Some pretty good players were falling by the wayside all day. But just when it seemed like Woods and McIlroy might break the hearts of NBC and the huge gallery that followed them around Merion all day Friday, they got it together and kept themselves in the mix.

“I played well, I just made a couple of mistakes out there,” said Woods after signing for an even-par 70 in the second round. “It’s hard with the wind and the pin locations. They’re really tried to, I think, protect the golf course, with it being as soft as it is. And they’ve given us some really, really tough pins.”

There was no bitterness from the three-time U.S. Open winner. At 37, he’s seen almost everything the USGA can throw at a player. Sometimes people forget those three U.S. Junior and three U.S. Amateur titles he won as a kid and that the USGA was setting up those courses all along.

McIlroy echoed Woods’ sentiments about the pins, but the 24-year-old, a winner of two major championships, including the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional, claimed he never bought into some of the talk that Merion would surrender a bunch of low numbers, particularly if it was softened by rain.

“I didn’t hear any golfers saying that,” said McIlroy, who matched his playing partner, Woods, with an even-par second round. “It was you guys (the media) saying that it was going to be scoreable. So you must be very good golfers. There were people saying 63, 64, that was never going to happen.”

So they went out there and toiled away. With the temperature still in the 50s, Woods made bogeys at 12 and 17 around a birdie at 13 to complete his opening-round 73. He started his second round on 11 and birdied 13 again, but bogeys at 14 and 18 had him back to 4-over.

He righted the ship by getting birdies at the two par-5s, two and four, but he needed a brilliant approach at four out of the rough from at least 180 yards away. Then he holed a curling 14-footer for a much-needed par at five.

“Five was a nice putt,” said Woods, who owns 14 major championships, but none since the 2008 U.S. Open. “I hit a 6-iron and stuck it in the ground, but I thought ... I hit a really good putt. It was good to get one up the hill.”

He flubbed a tough pitch at seven and made bogey, but by then 3-over was looking better every second.

McIlroy’s day started with bogeys at 15, 17 and 18 as he completed his opening-round 73.

“You sort of get into a rhythm on 14 through 18, but it’s not the rhythm you want to be in,” McIlroy said with a smile.

He got his second round started with birdies at 11 and 12 and then hung on, making bogey at 14, bogey at one, a birdie at three, a bogey at the fourth, which he played mostly from the adjoining eighth hole, a birdie when he got back to the eighth, and a bogey at nine.

“You have to realize that if you’re a couple over par, you’re not losing ground to the field,” McIlroy said. “This course is a place where par is a good score.”

Woods keeps shaking his left arm after digging shots out of the gnarly Merion rough. While not disclosing the nature of the injury, he did say it happened at the Players Championship, which he won last month. He said it will not keep him from playing today.

Asked if he liked his chances, Woods said quickly, “Yes.” Pretty sure McIlroy feels the same way.